Video - Howth Gun-Running remembered on 99th anniversary

» Mark Moloney

The weapons, which would be used to strike a blow against the British during the 1916 Rising, were collected on the pier by members of the republican youth movement Fianna Éireann

THE 1914 Howth gun-running was remembered in a commemoration and re-enactment in the village of Howth, north County Dublin on Saturday. Wearing replica Irish Citizen Army uniforms, the Dublin Republican Colour Party led the march to the very spot where on the 26 July 1914 the arsenal was unloaded.

Sinn Féin Donaghmede Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha (pictured) recalled the events when the 'The Asgard' ship landed 900 German Mauser rifles and 29,000 rounds of ammunition. The weapons, which would be used to strike a blow against the British Empire during the 1916 Rising, were collected on the pier by members of the republican youth movement Fianna Éireann and the Irish Citizen Army.

The republicans managed to safely escort the weapons to safe houses around Dublin despite attempts by the Dublin Metropolitan Police and British troops to seize them in Clontarf.

Also remembered was the Bachelor's Walk Massacre which occured later that day. British troops who had been unable to seize the rifles in Clontarf were returning to their barracks in Dublin when they opened fire on a crowd of jeering civilians at Bachelor's Walk, injuring 38 people. Three people were killed and another man was stabbed to death with a bayonet.

Members of the Dublin Republican Colour Party lead the procession in Irish Citizen Army uniform and the march was accompanied by the Rising Phoenix Republican Flute Band. The commemoration was organised by the McLoughlin/Cahill Sinn Féin Cumann.